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“No one’s asking me to do anything. I convinced Yano to get me there so I can get the information I need.”
“What information?” There was a pause. “Is this connected to the information you needed in that haunted house?”
“It wasn’t a haunted house. And it’s related to our Fae world, so it’s confidential.” At least, that was a partial truth. “What were you doing in the bar?”
“Business. Who was that man?”
“What kind of business? And what makes you think it wasn’t a date?”
“Just trying to feel my options and meet prospects. You wouldn’t look like that with an actual date.”
“Like what?”
“Like you wanted to get away from him so fast.”
“Maybe it was just a really bad date,” she muttered, unsure why she was so persistent in convincing him that it wasn’t just a business meeting when really, it was—and like she had said, she got what she needed, tucked in her pocket. Her heart thumped with the knowledge. She cleared her throat and tried not to think about it. “Any idea what clan those vampires belonged to?”
“No, but either Iz or Janella can check the CCTV and possibly identify them. Watch your step.”
Unfazed by the warning, she ducked her head to avoid the thick portion of the invisible barrier circling the Bennetts’ forest territory, which had already been humming in her ears five minutes before they arrived. When the humming shifted into silence, she squeezed her way in, feeling its resistance at first before it recognized her and let her in. Daria shuffled around in the darkness until a pair of hands steered her shoulders.
“Our usual spot’s to your right.”
She tried not to shiver, unused to rough, calloused—warm—palms on her bare shoulders. Belatedly, it registered that she forgot her favorite coat in her hurry to get him away from those predators and lamented the loss before she marched in that direction. His palms disappeared. She felt around for the tree trunks, recognized one, and hauled her way up until she was sitting on one of its sturdier branches.
“I was just here earlier,” she said.
“I know. You told me.” Leaves rustled before a weight settled beside her, so close. A blanket was placed on her shoulder. “But not with me.”
Silence.
“You know that I always escort you to whatever new mission you think you have to do,” he said, his tone just slightly miffed.
“We haven’t—”
“And just because we haven’t been in touch much these last few months doesn’t mean you can’t call me anytime. I came after your last text, remember?”
He did, showing up when she least expected it and putting a pleasant warmth in her system as they fell back into their routine. This was routine, too, and she sank into it. When he shifted in his spot, she mistook it for him leaving and snatched his arm, inhaling his scent: pine and soap. It was always pine and soap with Charlie. It was always a level of comfort with him, knowing he had her back no matter what.
How the hell was she supposed to survive leaving the city without him?
You survived the last few months, Daria.
The inner warning snapped her out of her sentiments and had her releasing him.
“Sorry, I thought you lost your balance,” she reasoned hastily, shaking inside from how close she was to telling him the truth. The ring of his phone shoved the rest of it down, sealed tight until she was calm again.
“Someone’s calling you.”
“I know. It’s Hayley.”
“Right.” She deliberately looked away, waiting for him to hop off and get some privacy.
“We are on a break.”
Daria gripped the branch and whirled back, sure that she was gaping at him.
“What? Why?”
